A fort in the jungle

[Keymonus]

Spoiler

Rising through the ranks

Rimbaud's Raiders

In the wide blue sea

The Pearl of the South

Fort Arltrees, February 620, El Oleonda

"Now you are a lieutenant, Marcel, and you are the new governor of this metropolis… you are climbing the ranks, my friend!"

"You too, Monsieur Regiment General. Before the end of this story we'll probably have a new Maréchal."

Or they all would have been dead, thought Tristan. With the crisis between Carno and the Lotus Kingdom turning into an open war, the plans of the Etat majeur required a foothold on El Oleonda, nothing more than a little fort to secure the landing point for the contingent. A clever move, Tristan had to admit, but with the risk of losing the whole contingent sent forward… an hypothesis that Tristan didn't like at all.  

"Coming back to the plans… tomorrow I will leave with twenty men and our native scout for a long range recognition. We must be sure that we are far enough from both Lotii and Carnite forces. I don't know how far our diplomacy has gone up to now, and our presence could be… a little unwelcome. As I was saying, Lieutenant, you have the command of the fort until my return. You should provide for the needs of the garrison, and prepare for the arrival of more soldiers from Lavalette. A little pier could be useful, but avoid being noticed."

"Yes, sir! The mouth of the nearby river could  be a good place for a sheltered landing point, at least according to our native scouts."

 

"I agree with you, it could also be a good starting point for our expedition in the inlands. According to the map drawn by the scientific officer, we could go upstream it for several miles, going faster than crawling in the jungle. Probably it's also the best option to find out something about the presence of other troops in the area." 

"Another thing sir… What about the other empires? Do you expect hostile activities?"

Tristan feared that question. He decided to be sincere, also because everyone in the contingent knew the answer. "As far as we know, we are the only ones on the island, apart from the Lotii and the Carnites. We should avoid any hostile activity but, if we are attacked, we will defend with all our strength… that currently isn't that much. However, the high command intentionally leaked some secret information about massive troop raising in the West, and that should be enough to deter any attack against us."

Otherwise, their bones would have remained on El Oleonda. The Oleander Army would have avenged them, but in case of large scale attack everybody in Fort Arltrees would have been killed. They all knew that, and they all were ready to give the life for Oleon, but nobody liked the idea of being sacrificed as a pawn in a game of chess between empires.

Currently, however, the moral was quite high: after weeks at sea, the cook was finally preparing a real soup with some fresh meat… the ship rations were acceptable, but both hunting and sauces were completely absent from the mariners’ diet. Better not to waste too much time: waiting in the jungle, knowing how precarious their position was, would have worn down the soldiers. The expedition in the interior was also a mean to keep them active and, who knows, possibly to discover something about the Tyree'De, the mysterious natives of the New Haven Sea.

Before his return the building of the fort would have been completed: the soldiers were cutting down the bushes along the outer palisade...

…while the inner structures, currently just skeletons of poles and beams, would have soon be completed. Fort Arltrees was rising, currently nothing more than a small outpost in the jungle.

May the Gods help him and his men, or it would soon have become also their tomb!

An overview of the building:

This is an official action, even if I still have to figure out exactly how to complete the paperworks. With this Tristan Rimbaud is starting a squatter settlement on El Oleonda, in a position still to be defined (I though somewhere near to the Eastern Coast, let me know if it is possible). Tristan is officially doing this as a personal initiative, but as you can understand he has a certain level of endorsement and backing from the faction

Edit: I accidentally published the post before it was complete… sorry!

Edited March 16, 2020 by Keymonus
Incomplete topic; typos

[Fraunces]

Love it, but where's the text ? 

[Keymonus]

1 hour ago, Fraunces said:

Love it, but where's the text ? 

Thank you! I accidentally published it while I was writing… sorry! 

[blackdeathgr]

Forts everywhere! Better safe than sorry!!!

[Captain Dee]

Nice fort. It certainly captures the frontier look. And good job posing all those minifigs. That native is rockin' that morion. Perhaps he "acquired" it from one of his enemies? Good luck with your ventures.

[Kolonialbeamter]

This is an excellent start. I'm loving the business of you build; and the disturbing, mildly dooming atmosphere certainly doesn't lack some parallels to real life events...

Job (very) well done! 

[Keymonus]

Thank you guys! The idea behind the helmet was exactly that, something like the Iroquis or the Zulus wearing captured British Uniform, and about the idea of impending doom… we'll soon see how much it is justified! 

[Bodi]

It's something new seeing Olean soldiers working with natives, instead of persecuting them. Is it a wind of change blowing through the trees?

Nice wood fort under construction.

[blackdeathgr]

1 hour ago, Bodi said:

It's something new seeing Olean soldiers working with natives, instead of persecuting them. Is it a wind of change blowing through the trees?

"Natives are our friends" (official palatial wax stamp follows) 

Edited March 22, 2020 by blackdeathgr

[Maxim I]

Sweet atmosphere going on (so many things to look at).

Hmm, Oleon has a settlement in El Oleonda as well... very interesting...

[Bodi]

On 3/22/2020 at 6:22 PM, blackdeathgr said:

"Natives are our friends" (official palatial wax stamp follows) 

Thank you for the approval, my sire, I'm gonna announce this policy to the natives.